Call your doctor at once if you have a headache with chest pain and severe dizziness, and fast or pounding heartbeats. MISUSE OF METHADONE CAN CAUSE ADDICTION, OVERDOSE, OR DEATH, especially in a child or other drug addiction treatment person using the medicine without a prescription. Keep the medication in a place where others cannot get to it. In some cases, you may not find a lot of support from your family because they may not be able to understand.
- It is best to taper slowly from a methadone maintenance program to minimize the side effects and potential for relapse.
- During a methadone taper, the drug should be taken by mouth in exactly the dosage recommended.
- It’s particularly important for those who take methadone at home and not under the supervision of a medical professional.
- If you have been using this medicine regularly for several weeks or longer, do not change your dose or suddenly stop using it without checking with your doctor.
Methadone Patient Tips
Grapefruit may interact with this medicine and cause side effects. Avoid driving or hazardous activity until you know how this medicine will affect you. Dizziness or drowsiness can cause falls, accidents, or severe injuries. The goal is not “getting off methadone.” The goal can you get off methadone is long-term recovery. In homeostasis, hormones, neurotransmitters, and processes in your body are all working together to keep a state of balance.
Buprenorphine (Sublocade, Suboxone)
Tell your healthcare provider if you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. Your healthcare provider will advise you if you should take methadone while breastfeeding. Methadone may cause children to have serious breathing problems and may cause them to stop breathing if they take even one dose by accident. Methadone is a controlled substance because it can be misused or lead to dependence. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any of the following symptoms of low blood pressure.
Response and effectiveness
Tapering is highly stressful, and a supportive social network, including family, helps to weather the storms. Each of these reasons is legitimate, but the doctor should ensure the patient is aware of the benefits of MMT and has made an informed decision to cease treatment. In particular, patients who wish to cease MMT just before release should be informed of the increased risk of relapse and drug overdose in the weeks following release from a closed setting.
Other uses for this medicine
- Methadone can cause death, and this typically happens to people who are taking large doses of prescription methadone for pain relief.
- As a counter to that idea, a counselor can express disagreement with the patient’s initial statement at face value and can probe further to clarify the issues.
- Tapering methadone means gradually taking smaller doses over several weeks or months.
- These may be symptoms of a serious condition called serotonin syndrome.
There is no set rule for how long someone should stay in methadone maintenance treatment. However, it is well known that the longer a patient remains in treatment, the better the outcome. Generally, patients should be encouraged to remain in methadone maintenance treatment for the length of their detention, and then provided with assistance to continue with treatment after release from detention. Overdose is more likely to occur if the patient is using other drugs that depress the central nervous system e.g. alcohol, benzodiazepines or opioids.
A Guide To Tapering Off Methadone (With Dosing)
By law, methadone can only be dispensed through an opioid treatment program (OTP) certified by SAMHSA. This is especially true if you have been taking methadone to treat an opioid use disorder. In medical detox, you can be slowly weaned off methadone under the supervision of professionals who can address withdrawal symptoms as they occur.
Selling or giving away this medication is dangerous and is against the law. If you do not have a bowel movement for 3 days, call your care team. Returning to medication treatment after discontinuation if they return to illicit opioid use. Contact patients randomly and request that they return their take-home containers within a day or two to see whether they still have the medication in their possession or have altered the medication in any way.
